Intel Quits from OLPC Project

Chip maker, Intel has decided to break its partnership with One Laptop Per Child Project after rejecting a request to ditch its Classmate PC. Prior to the break up, there were talks about build a version of XO laptops based on Intel chip. It was also rumored that Intel was considering packing some its proprietary learning software into XO laptops, but now it’s all over.

Intel’s Classmate PC is a low cost PC design to help students in developing countries. It goes head-to-head with OLPC’s XO laptops which use microprocessor from AMD. According to sources, OLPC Founder, Nicholas Negroponte insisted Intel to dump Classmate PC project in favor of OLPC, but Intel couldn’t agree for their terms.

In an email to ComputerWorld, OLPC president, Walter Bender said, “a complete lack of cooperation by Intel on software, learning, etc”. He added that “Intel continues to treat our mission simply as another market,”

Intel has put considerable efforts in developing Classmate PC, and I believe asking them to kill that project in favor of OLPC was irrational. XO laptops were initially projected to cost $100 per machine, but when they reached production stage, its price tag was raised to $200. Classmate PC on the other hand costs $300, but it’s capable of running Windows XP.